40 years after Rodney’s assassination, WPA honours his contribution

Jun 13, 2020 News

– But no action taken four years after COI report was submitted to Coalition administration

By Bhim

The Working People’s Alliance is paying tribute to its most famous founding member, Dr. Walter Rodney, 40 years since his assassination under the then People’s National Congress (PNC) regime, even as four years has passed since a Commission of Inquiry report into his death was submitted to the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) +Alliance For Change (AFC) government. The WPA is a member of APNU of which the PNC is the largest member.

Dr. Walter Rodney

“This year’s anniversary,’ a statement from the party noted, “comes at a critical juncture in Guyana’s sojourn as the country confronts its historical contradictions. It also comes at a time when the wider world confronts the still raw scars of chattel slavery on the condition of the sons and daughters of the formerly enslaved.”
The statement added that, the WPA is aware of the attempt by some forces in their narrative to insert Rodney in the current situation. However, the party urges its supporters to steer clear of that inducement but instead remember Rodney for what he contributed at another critical moment.
“We also use this anniversary to invoke his spirit as we recommit our part to the core ideals which have guided us over the years and we prefer to leave it to the younger generations to critically interrogate that period and tease out Rodney’s contributions to aid them in their own contemporary struggles.”
The WPA believes that it is fair to conclude that Rodney is one of the leading thinkers and activists of the Guyanese post-colonial struggle for bread, justice, and freedom. That his contributions are hailed beyond Guyana points to the breadth and scope of his importance as part of the Universalist Caribbean intellectual and political tradition.
The message comes against the backdrop of no movement on or public discussion of the findings of the report coming out of a Commission of Inquiry, straddling two administrations, into the circumstances of Rodney’s death.
During the final year as President, Mr. Donald Ramotar by Instrument, dated February 8, 2014, appointed Sir. Richard L. Cheltenham, Former Barbados Minister; Mr. Seenath Jairam of Trinidad & Tobago and Mrs. Jacqueline Samuels- Browne of Jamaica; as Commissioners of an inquiry to submit a report of the death Dr. Rodney. The commissioners in their quest for the truth of some 36 years ago started their work on April 28, 2014.
The original deadline for the report was due on November 30, 2015. However, there was a delay that arose from the General Elections held on May 11, 2015. This caused the Commissioners to bring the hearings to a halt on March 27, 2015, and resuming until July 27, 2015.
According to the report, “the Commission did not hear from all the witnesses scheduled to testify as the Government (APNU+AFC) brought the Inquiry to a premature end.”
The Commissioners, in their report have “unearthed as wealth of evidence relating to the circumstances surrounding Rodney’s death.” They also highlight the fact that there is a need for the improvement of the police investigative machinery, especially in serious crimes such as murder. The report also exposed the fact that there is a weakness of the record keeping of both the army and the police. It was never formally presented to the public.